Notes And Queries, Issue 77.

"Roundheads bragge not, since 'tis an old decree,

In time to come from chaines wee should be free:

Traytors shall rule, Injustice then shall sway,

Subjects and nephewes shall their king betray;

And he himselfe, O most unhappy fate!

For kings' examples, kingdomes imitate:

What he maintain'd, I know it was not good,

Brought in by force, and out shall goe by blood," &c.

It occupies about thirty lines more. At the bottom of the title, and at the conclusion of the postscript, it has merely the initials S. D. Could any of your worthy correspondents inform me who S. D. was?

The MS. is evidently cotemporary, and, according to the introduction, was "ordered to be forthwith published, MDCXLVI in apostrophus form.;" and as I cannot trace that such a production was ever issued, the answer would confer a favour on

Arthur Pomeroy, Dean of Cork.—Can any one of your genealogical readers assist me in ascertaining the parentage of Arthur Pomeroy, who was made Dean of Cork in 1672? He was fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, in which university he graduated as A.B. in 1660, M.A. in 1664, and S.T.P. in 1676. He is stated in Archdale's edition of Lodge's Peerage of Ireland (article "Harberton") to have sprung from the Pomeroys of Ingsdon in Devonshire, and is stated to have gone to Ireland as chaplain to the Earl of Essex, Lord Lieutenant.

Minor Queries Answered.

The above is the title of a tract now in my possession. Is it known to any collector of tracts relating to the Battle of Edgehill? Who was the "worthy divine," the writer?

[On the title-page of this tract among the King's pamphlets in the British Museum, the name of Mr. Bifield has been written. No doubt it is the production of the Rev. Adoniram Byfield, chaplain to Col. Cholmondeley's regiment, in the army of the Earl of Essex in 1642, and who was subsequently one of the scribes to the Assembly of Divines, and a most zealous Covenanter. See Wood's Athenæ, by Bliss, vol. iii. p. 670.]

Trisection of the Circle.—Has the problem of the trisection of the angle been solved? or, if not, is there any reward for its solution; and what steps should be taken to obtain it?

[The problem of the trisection of the angle by aid of the straight line and circle, used as in Euclid, has never been solved—no reward was ever offered for its solution.]

Wolsey's Son.—Can any of your readers give an account of a son of Cardinal Wolsey, whose existence is recorded in a letter from Eustace Chapuys to the Emperor Charles V., October 25, 1529, in the following words:—

Cardinal Beaton had lots of bastards, but I never remember to have seen in any account of Wolsey mention made of natural children.

[The existence of a natural son of Cardinal Wolsey is a fact as well ascertained as any other fact of the Cardinal's history, and referred to in the various biographies of him that have appeared. His name was Thomas Winter. In Chalmers's Biographical Dictionary, vol. xxxii. pp. 255. and 256. note, reference is made to a Bull of Pope Julius II., dated August, 1508, to be found in Kennet's MSS. in the British Museum, in which he is styled, "dilecti filio Thomæ Wulcy," Rector of Lymington diocese of Bath and Wells, Master of Arts, "pro dispensatione ad tertium incompatibile." This is explained by the passage in Wood's Athenæ Oxon. Fasti, part i. p. 73. (Bliss ed.), relating to him. "This Tho. Winter, who was nephew (or rather nat. son) to Cardinal Tho. Wolsey, had several dignities confer'd upon him before he was of age, by the means of the said Cardinal," viz. the archedeaconry of York, 1523; chancellorship of the church of Sarum; the deanery of Wells, 1525; the provostship of Beverly; and the archdeaconry of Richmond, &c.: on which there is a note by Baker, that "this Tho. Winter is said to have held of the church's goods clearly more than 2000 pds. per an." Wood adds, that about the time of the Cardinal's fall, he gave up all or most of his dignities, keeping only the archdeaconry of York, which he resigned also in 1540. In Grove's Life and Times of Cardinal Wolsey, vol. iv. p. 315., among the "Articles" against the Cardinal, Article XXVII. expressly charges him, "that he took from his son Winter his income of 2,700l. a-year, applied it to his own use, and gave him only 200l. yearly to live on." A reference is made in Sir H. Ellis's Letters Illustrative of English History, 2nd Series, vol. ii. p. 70., to a letter of Edmund Harvel to Dr. Starkey, dated from Venice, April 1535, in which the writer expresses his obligations to Mr. Winter, for his "friendly mynde toward him," and begs him to return his thanks.

In Mr. Galt's Life of Wolsey (Appendix IV. p. 424. of Bogue's edition) will be found a copy of a letter from John Clusy to Cromwell, in relation to a natural daughter of Wolsey's in the nunnery of Shaftesbury.]

Cardinals and Abbots in the English Church.—It may not be generally known, but the fact is so, that the English church numbers two Cardinals and a Lord Abbot amongst her members. In Whitaker's Clerical Diary, under the head of London Diocese, there is attached to St. Paul's a senior and a junior cardinal; and in Ireland exists the exempt jurisdiction of Newry and Mourne, under the government of the Lord Abbot, who is the Earl of Kilmorey. Can any of your readers give me any information respecting these officials?

[Cardinal.—The title of cardinal (cardinalis) in early times was frequently applied to any bishop, priest, or deacon holding an official post. In France there were many cardinal priests: thus, the curate of the parish of St. John de Vignes is called, in old charters, the cardinal priest of that parish. There were also cardinal deacons, who had the charge of hospitals for the poor, and who ranked above the other deacons. Thus, two of the minor canons of St. Paul's are called cardinals of the choir, whose duties are to preserve order in Divine service, administer the Eucharist, and officiate at funerals. In former times, they heard confessions and enjoined penances. (Newcourt's Repertorium, vol. i. p. 233.) It was not till the twelfth century that the Sacred College of Cardinals was organised; nor was it till 1567 that clergymen were forbidden by Pius V. to assume the title of cardinal unless appointed by the Pope.

Lay Abbots.—In early times we frequently find secular persons denominated "field abbots" and "abbot counts," upon whom the sovereign had bestowed certain abbeys, for which they were obliged to render military service, as for common fiefs. In the time of Charles the Bald many of the nobility in France were abbots, having a dean to officiate for them. Thus, too, in Scotland, James Stuart, the natural son of James V., was, at the time of the Reformation, Prior of St. Andrew's, although a secular person. The Earl of Kilmorey, who is impropriator of the tithes of St. Mary, Newry, is a lay abbot, or representative of the preceding abbots of a Cistertian Abbey which formerly existed in that town. His abbatial functions, however, are confined to convening ecclesiastical courts, and granting probates of wills, and licenses for marriages, subject only to the metropolitan jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Armagh. A remnant of the secularisation of ecclesiastical dignities has already been noticed in our pages (Vol. ii., pp. 447. 500.), in the case of the late Duke of York, who was at the same time Commander-in-chief and Bishop of Osnaburg.]

Replies.

SIR BALTHAZAR GERBIER.

Your correspondent J. Mt. has great reason to congratulate himself on the possession of the singularly curious tract which he describes, and which gives an autobiography of this extraordinary adventurer. I am not aware of any other copy in any public or private collection. I have a 4to. tract in nineteen pages, evidently printed abroad, the title of which is—

This gives a very interesting life of him by himself, perfectly distinct from, and containing many particulars not given in the tract possessed by your correspondent, which also contains matter not in the above. I have likewise another tract, privately printed in Holland in English, French, and Dutch, in fifteen pages 12mo., the English title to which is—

In this, which gives some curious particulars as to "Mr. Hughe Peeters," and the book entitled The Nonsuch Charles, he refers to another "little manifest" published on the 2nd day of October, 1652, "that the world might take notice that he was not at all invested with any foreigne engagement." Of the tract so referred to, I regret to say no copy is known. None of the other three tracts appear to have been seen by Horace Walpole, who had collected a great number of Gerbier's pamphlets, and also the MS. next mentioned, which, at the Strawberry Hill sale, came together into my possession. The MS. contains the original appointments of Sir Balthazar to the offices he held while in England, a pedigree of his family beautifully emblazoned, and a large quantity of MS., prose and poetry, in his autograph; including a most extensive collection of projects and proposals, which seem to have been equally at the service of England or France. The best account we have of Gerbier is that which Horace Walpole has supplied in the Anecdotes of Painting (see Works, vol. iii. p. 189.); but his diplomatic negotiations, and his career as an artist and adventurer, never forgetting his academy at Whitefriars and Bethnal Green, would furnish matter for a very amusing volume. The general biography, however, to which he would be most appropriately remitted, and which is still a desideratum in literature, is that which is proposed by Dr. Johnson, in Chalmers's admirable parody:

THE TRAVELS OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN.

Is not your correspondent J. Me. in error when he says the original travels of the Baron were written to ridicule Bruce? I think this will only apply to the second volume, or "Sequel," seeing that there exists an edition of Gulliver Revived, printed at Oxford, 1786, four years before Bruce published. J. Me. further remarks, that there was at one time reason to believe that James Graham was the author of the well-known book in question, but that circumstances have come to his knowledge altogether precluding the possibility that the author of The Sabbath and The Travels of Baron Munchausen are identical.

To me it appears there were two of these James Grahams, and that from their being contemporaries, they are usually rolled into one. I have in my library a volume containing Wallace, a Tragedy, Edinburgh, 1799; and Mary Stewart, Queen of Scots, an Historical Drama, Edinburgh, 1801, which appears to have belonged to Mr. George Chalmers, upon the titles of which that gentleman has written, "by James Graham, Advocate, Edinburgh, son of T. Graham, a writer of reputation in Glasgow."

From this one would think Mr. Chalmers had the author of The Sabbath in his eye: a conclusion, however, difficult to come to in the face of a critique which thus characterises the tragedy of Wallace:

—a charge which, of course, could never apply to this "lovable" and subsequently reverend author of The Sabbath, a poem breathing the humblest piety, and published only five years after Wallace; consequently here is, in the author of the tragedy of Wallace, another James Graham at the service of J. Me., to whom, if his other proofs are strong, the Baron may be assigned with more probability.

I may add, taking it for granted that Chalmers was right in claiming these two plays for a James Graham, that there is the strongest corroborative proof of there being two of the name in the existence of Mary Stewart, a Dramatic Poem, the acknowledged performance of the author of The Sabbath (see his Poems, 2 vols. 1809), a production differing in title, and bearing no resemblance, I should think, to the first named.

While upon the subject, and presuming that the tragedy of Wallace is known to J. Me., I may take the opportunity to ask him, as he is ayont the Tweed, whether there is really any authority for the assertion contained in the Abbotsford Library Catalogue, and also in that of Constable's Library, sold in 1817, that of this anonymous tragedy of Wallace there were only six copies printed? Upon the face of mine there is nothing to indicate its rarity, it being an octavo, printed for A. Constable; but the remarkable book may be some other: your correspondents will, however, I dare say, be able to enlighten me.

Baron Munchausen (Vol. ii., p. 519.).—As it was nearly thirty years since I had seen the Percy Anecdotes, I was obliged to speak doubtfully of having derived from that work the statements that the author of Munchausen was a Mr. "M——," and that he was a prisoner in France. Accident has within the last few days thrown in my way the very volume of the Anecdotes in which this is stated (vol. v., Anecdotes of Captivity, p. 103.); and I find that I was mistaken only in supposing "M——'s" place of confinement to have been the Bastile, whereas the time is said to have been the Reign of Terror, and therefore of course the Bastile cannot have been the place.

Replies to Minor Queries.

Tobacco in the East (vol. ii., pp. 155. 231.).—M. D. asks for "chapter and verse" of A. C. M.'s reference to Sale's Koran respecting tobacco.

Had A. C. M. recollected that tobacco (Nicotiana) is an American plant, he would hardly have asked whether "tobacco is the word in the original" of the tradition mentioned by Sale in his Preliminary Discourse, § 5. p. 123. (4to. ed. 1734.) Happily Reland, whom Sale quotes (Dissert. Miscell., vol. ii. p. 280.), gives his authority, the learned orientalist, Dr. Sike, who received the Hadéth at Leghorn from Ibn Sáleh, a young Muselman. It says, in good Arabic, that in the latter days Moslims, undeserving of the name, shall drink hashish (hemp), and call it tabák; the last words, "yukál lehn tabáku," are no doubt a modern addition by those who had heard of tambákó (the Romaic τανπάκον). As the use of hashish or hashishah (the herb), more completely hashishata fukara, i.e. Monk's Wort, a technical term for hemp, chewed as a narcotic by fakirs (monks), was not known till A.H. 608 (A.D. 1211), it could not be mentioned in the Koran unless Mohammed were, as Sale observes, "a prophet indeed." Tabakak, a plate, dish, or shelf, is now sometimes used by ignorant persons in the East for tambákó, of which a complete account is given in the Karábádén, or great treatise of Materia Medica in Persian. Of that work, there is a beautifully written copy, made, probably, for the late Mr. Colebrooke, by whom it was presented to the library of the Royal Asiatic Society. I shall conclude by another Query: What is the Greek word transformed by Asiatic scribes into Karábádén?

Captain John Stevens (Vol. ii., p. 359.).—This ingenious man, as to whom your correspondent inquires, was one of the hard-working translators in the early part of the last century. The materials for his biography are very scanty. He was a Roman Catholic, and at the Revolution followed the fortunes of his abdicating master, in whose service he accepted a commission, and accompanied him in the wars in Ireland. He was also employed in several other services, and died October 27, 1726. See Biographia Dramatica, vol. i. p. 691., edit. 1812. He is not noticed in Chalmers's Biographical Dictionary, though as the continuator of Dugdale's Monasticon he unquestionably ought to have been. Watt gives a list (Bib. Brit., vol. i. p. 880.) of his books and translations; but it is, as usual, very defective and erroneous. It does not include his translation of Don Quixote, of Dupin, of An Evening's Intrigue (1707, 8vo.), and a great number of other works; and it ascribes to him the History of the Wars of Charles XII., King of Sweden, London, 1715, which was written, as it needs no great sagacity to discover, by Daniel Defoe, though Chalmers and Wilson have not noticed it.

MS. Catalogue of Norman Nobility (Vol. iii., p. 266.).—The MS. Catalogue of Norman Nobility referred to in No. 75., a document of great value, is or was in the possession of Sir William Betham, having been purchased by him about six years ago, from Mr. Boone, of New Bond Street.

Your correspondent will find that Odardus de Loges was infeoffed by Earl Ranulph the 1st in the barony of Wigton in Cumberland, in which he was confirmed by Henry I. Bigod, whose name was attached to the charter of foundation of St. Werburg's Abbey, is elsewhere, according to Ormerod, called Robert.

Comets (Vol. iii., pp. 223. 253.).—If your correspondent S. P. O. R. wish to go fully into the history of comets, and be not alarmed at the prospect of three thick folios, through which I have gone, I can assure him, with considerable interest, let me recommend to him Theatrum Cometicum, Auctore Stanislao Lubienietz Lubieniecio Rolitsio, Amst., in 2 vols. (but generally bound in three) folio. The first contains an immense correspondence, not merely with astronomers, but with poets, critics, physicians, and philosophers, to whom the indefatigable editor wrote for their opinions on the subject of comets. The second vol. gives a history of comets from the Deluge to 1665, and is a repository of everything bearing upon the subject. From this work Bayle derived his learning, when he wrote his most amusing work on comets.

Pope Joan (Vol. iii., p. 265.).—Nemo will find much information on the question, "Whether Pope Joan ever held the keys of St. Peter?" in Alexander Cooke's Dialogue between a Protestant and a Papist; manifestly proving that a Woman called Joane was Pope of Rome: against the surmises and objections made to the contrary by Robert Bellarmini and Cæsar Baronius, Cardinals, Florimondus Ræmondus, and other Popish Writers, impudently denying the same, 4to, pp. 128, 1610. The work was dedicated to the Archbishop of York, and was reprinted in 1625 in 4to., and in French, 1633, 8vo. The author, in his address To the Popish Reader, says:

Abbot Eustacius (Vol. iii., p. 141.).—As J. L.'s inquiry after an abbot of that name has hitherto been unsuccessful, perhaps he would like to know that Eustacia was abbess of the monastery at Shaftesbury (founded by King Alfred), tempore incerto, but probably in the time of Stephen. See Willis's History of Abbeys, and a History of the Ancient Town of Shaftesbury, p. 21.

The Vellum-bound Junius (Vol. iii., p. 262.).—In the Minor Queries of your Number 75., you have kindly inserted my notice on the vellum-bound Junius. I beg to state further, that the reason of my being so desirous to procure this copy at the Stowe sale was, that it was not only bound in vellum, but was also printed on that article. If any of your correspondents can inform me of another copy printed on vellum, I should be glad.

Meaning of Waste-Book (Vol. iii., pp. 118. 195. 251.).—Among a list of "the books printed for, and are to be sold by John Hancock, at the sign of the Three Bibles in Pope's-head Alley, in Cornhill," I find The Absolute Accountant, or London Merchant, containing instructions and directions for the methodical keeping of merchant's accounts, after the most exact and concise way of debtor and creditor; also a Memorial, vulgarly called a waste-book, and a cash-book, with a journal and a ledger, &c., 1670. This is the first reference I have seen to the correct designation of the book, which might have received it vulgar name of waste from wast, the second person of was—thus the Memorial or the Wast-book.

Cowdray (Vol. iii., p. 194.).—There is a misprint here of Eastbourne for Easebourne. There is a curious note on Cowdray, and the superstition attached to it, in Croker's Boswell, p. 711. 8vo. edit.

Solemnisation of Matrimony (Vol. ii., p. 464.).—A. A. will find, from Blackstone's Commentaries, vol. ii. p. 135., that in feudal times a husband had the power of protecting his lands from the wife's claim to dower, by endowing her, ad ostium Ecclesiæ, with specific estates to the exclusion of others; or, if he had no lands at the time of the marriage, by an endowment in goods, chattels, or money. When special endowments were thus made, the husband, after affiance made and troth plighted, used to declare with what specific lands he meant to endow his wife ("quod dotat eam de tali manerio," &c.); and therefore, in the old York ritual (Seld. Ux. Hebr. l. ii. c. 27.) there is at this part of the matrimonial service the following rubric—"Sacerdos interroget dotem mulieris; et si terra ei in dotem detur, tunc dicatur psalmus iste", &c. When the wife was endowed generally, the husband seems to have said "with all my lands and tenements I thee endow," and then they all became liable to her dower. When he endowed her with personalty only, he used to say, "with all my worldly goods (or, as the Salisbury ritual has it, "with all my worldly chattels") I thee endow," which entitled the wife to her thirds, or pars rationabilis, of his personal estate, which is provided for by Magna Charta, cap. 26. The meaning, therefore, of the words noticed in A. A.'s Query, if they can be said to have any meaning in the present state of the law, is simply that the wife's dower is to be general, and not specific, or, in other words, that she is to have her pars rationabilis in all her husband's goods.

Epitaph on the Countess of Pembroke (Vol. iii., p. 262.).—Although J. H. M. has concluded that William Browne was not the author of this epitaph, because it is not to be found amongst his Pastorals, it would nevertheless appear that the lines are rightly attributed to him, if the following extract may be relied on:

Scandal against Queen Elizabeth (Vol. ii., p. 393.; Vol. iii., pp. 11. 151. 197. 225.).—Your correspondents seem to have overlooked the celebrated letter of Queen Mary of Scotland, printed in the State Trials, and lately reprinted by Lord Campbell in his Lives of the Chancellors, tit. Sir C. Hatton. I may as well add (though I do not believe the fact) that my grandmother (herself a Devereux) repeated to me the tradition of a son of Queen Elizabeth's having been sent to Ireland.

The Tanthony (Vol. III., pp. 105. 229.).—I am obliged to A. for the trouble he has taken in reference to my Query; but perhaps I may be correct in my suggestion, for on looking into the second volume of the Archæological Journal the other day, I accidentally found an account of the discovery of a figure of St. Anthony at Merthyr, near Truro, in which it is mentioned that

I shall be much obliged to anybody who will settle the point satisfactorily. The fair held on old St. Andrew's Day is always called in Kimbolton and the neighbourhood "Tandrew" fair, so why not "Tanthony" for "Saint Anthony?"

The Hippopotamus (Vol. iii., p. 181.).—Your correspondent Mr. E. S. Taylor will find in Vol. ii, p. 458, an example of the word ἱπποπόταμος cited from Lucian, a writer anterior both to Horapollo and Damascius. In the same page is a reference to the story of the wickedness of the hippopotamus in Plutarch; so that Horapollo and Damascius, doubtless, borrowed from a common source, or repeated a current fable, to be found in many writings then extant.

Tu Autem (Vol. iii., p. 265).—The words "Tu autem, Domine, miserere nostri," "But Thou, O Lord! have mercy upon us," were originally a form of prayer used by the preacher at the end of his discourse, as a supplication for pardon for any sinful pride or vainglory, into which he might have been betrayed in addressing his congregation. Hence the words "tu autem," as Pegge properly says, came to denote a hint to the reader to leave off.

The custom is still in constant use among the members of the cathedral church of Durham. At the public dinners given by the canons, in what is there called "hospitality residence," one of the choristers comes in after dinner, dressed in his official costume, and, taking his station behind the canon in residence, reads, in the manner which is now well known as intoning, eight verses of the 119th Psalm, first saying, "Here beginneth the —— part of the 119th Psalm."

When the eight verses are concluded, the canon turns round to the chorister, saying "tu autem," giving him a shilling; to which the chorister replies, "Domine miserere nostri," and retires.

The explanation of the words, as originally employed, is given by Rupertus De Divinis Officiis, lib. i. c. xiv.:

From this explanation it is plain, that the Monk of St. Albans, writing to the abbot—

Places called Purgatory (Vol. iii., p. 241.).—There is a farm-house still called "Purgatory," about two miles south of Durham, east of the London road, and close to the left bank of the river Wear. The farm is part of the estate of a highly respectable family, which has, I believe, always been Roman Catholic. No reason for the name is known in the neighbourhood.

Swearing by Swans, &c. (Vol. ii., p. 392.; Vol. iii., pp. 70. 192.).—In addition to what has already appeared on this subject, the following extract from Tyrwhitt's Glossary to Chaucer will, I hope, be acceptable.

This practice is alluded to in "Dunbar's Wish that the King were Johne Thomsonnis man" (MS. Maitland, st. v.):

And so in the Prol. to the Contin. of the Canterb. T., ver. 452., the Hosteler says:

The instance given in Vol. iii., p. 192., is recorded by Monstrelet, Hist. de France, Charles VII.

Edmund Prideaux and the Post-office (Vol. iii., pp. 186. 266.).—In a MS. on parchment, now before me, are contained entries of the dates of the various letters patent and grants connected with the post-office, to the latter end of the reign of Charles I., and the names of the persons to whom the grants were made. The earliest date is the 37th of Henry VIII., and the last the 13th of Charles I. If an extract from the MS., which gives a similar index to the appointments in the Courts of Law, the Customs, the Forests, and a great variety of other offices, will assist your correspondent, I shall be happy to supply it. I may notice, what seems to have been overlooked by your two correspondents who have replied to the inquiry, that some account of Prideaux is given by Wood (Vid. Fast. vol. i. p. 424., edit. Bliss), from which it appears that he was M.A. of Cambridge, Member of the Inner Temple, Member of Parliament for Lyme in Dorsetshire, and Recorder of Exeter; and that his death took place on the 19th Aug., 1659 (misprinted 1569 in this edit.), and that—

Small Words and "Low" Words (Vol. ii., pp. 305. 349. 377.).—Apropos to Pope's use of "low words," in the sense of short words, conf. Boileau, satire iv. 97. 8.

I commend to Φ.'s attention this instance of a "low" word supported on two "high" ones.

Lord Howard of Effingham (Vol. iii., pp. 185. 244.).—It has been supposed that the Earl of Nottingham was a Catholic, and having held office in the reign of Queen Mary, he probably was so at that time; but he certainly was a Protestant during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and in the beginning of James I. was at the head of a commission to discover and expel all Catholic priests. (Vide Memorials of the Howard Family.)

Obeahism.—Ventriloquism (Vol. iii., pp. 59. 149.).—T. H. will find, in the authorities given below, that Obeahism is not only a rite, but a religion, or rather superstition, viz. Serpent-worship. Modern Universal History, fol. vol. vi. p. 600.; 8vo. vol. xvi. p. 411.; which is indebted for its information to the works of De Marchais, Barbot, Atkyns, and Bosman: the last of which may be seen in Pinkerton's Collection, vol. xvi., and a review of it in Acta Eruditor., Lips. 1705, p. 265., under the form of an "Essay on Guinea." In Astely's Collection of Voyages, there is an account compiled from every authority then known, and a very interesting description of the rites and ceremonies connected with this superstition. According to the same authors, the influence of the Obeist does not depend on the exercise of any art or natural magic, but on the apprehensions of evil infused into his victim's mind. See also Lewis's Journal of a Residence among the Negroes in the West Indies.

The following references will furnish a reply at once to two Queries; to that here noticed, and to that on "Ventriloquism" (Vol. ii., p. 88.).

The name of the sacred serpent, which in the ancient language of Canaan was variously pronounced, was derived from "ob" (inflare), perhaps from his peculiarity of inflation when irritated. See Bryant's Analysis, vol. i.; Deane's Worship of the Serpent, p. 80. From a notion of the mysterious inflation produced by the presence of the divine spirit, those who had the spirit of Ob, or Python, received the names of Ob, or Pythia; according to the not unusual custom for the priest or priestess of any god to take the name of the deity they served. See Selden, De Dis Syris, Synt. 1. c. 2. It is a curious coincidence, that as the Witch of Endor is called "Oub," and the African sorceress "Obi," from the serpent-deity Oub, so the old English name of a witch, "hag," bears apparent relationship to the word hak, the ancient British name of a species of snake. In Yorkshire, according to Stukeley, they call snakes "hags" and "hag-worms," (Abury, p. 32.).

In the Breton language, Belech is "Priest," and may similarly indicate a priest of Bel-the-Dragon.

From the Hebrew Ob, the Greek ὄφις was probably derived; for the same word, in Hebrew, Arabic, and Greek, which denotes "divination" denotes a "serpent." "Nachash,"^[4] "ilahat,"^[5] "οἰωνίζεσθαι,"^[6] have the same double signification as if the serpent were recognised as the grand inspirer of the heathen prophets. See Faber's Horæ Mosaicæ, vol. i. p. 98.

The word "Ob" was translated by the LXX. ἐγγαστριμύθος, "a ventriloquist," in accommodation to the received opinions respecting the Pythian priestess. See the Notes to Creech's Lucretius, book v.; Jones's (of Nayland) Physiolog. Disquis. p. 290. The deception practised by the Witch of Endor, and by the damsel mentioned in Acts xvi. 16., was of this description. See Wierus de Præstig. Dæmon. p. 203.; and Reginald Scot's Discoverie of Witchcraft, p. 148.

The serpent, which with heathen mythologists had various acceptations (see Vossius, Theologia Gent. et Physiologia Christ.), was also understood as a natural symbol or hieroglyphic of the air. Can any of your learned correspondents furnish materials illustrative of this figurative relation between the serpent and the elements?

Footnote 4:(return)

See Parkhurst.

Footnote 5:(return)

Dickinson's Delphi Phœnic., p. 10.

Footnote 6:(return)

Stillingfleet's Orig. Sacræ, book iii. c. iii. s. 18.

Meaning of Peep (Vol. ii., p. 118.).—You have already told us the meaning of the word peep in the phrase "Wizards that peep and that mutter;" in confirmation I may add that the noise made by the queen bee in the hive previous to swarming is in Devonshire called peeping.

Venwell or Venville (Vol. iii., p. 38.).—Venwell or Venville appears to me to be a corruption of the word fengfield; and the meaning of it seems to be, that custom of delivering possession of land to a purchaser by cutting a piece of turf from the field bought, and delivering it into his hands.

I well remember, when a boy, accompanying my father to receive possession of an outlying field, distant from the main estate which he had bought; the seller's agent, I think, came with us and cut a small piece of turf from the ground, and delivered it into my father's hands, saying (if I recollect right), "By this turf I deliver this field into your possession." By this means my father "fenged" (took) the "field" into his own hands, and became the legal proprietor of it.

Venville.—The peat or black earth of Dartmoor is still called ven or fen. Is it not more probable that the adjoining parishes (or parts of them) are said to be in Venville or fengfield, from their being within the peat district, than that an abbreviation of a legal term, fines villarum—fin. vil., should become naturalised among the peasantry, as is the case with the word Venville?

The second part of the word seems akin to the Scottish fail, "a turf, or that clod covered with grass cut off from the rest of the sward." (Jamieson.)

Hand-bells at Funerals (Vol. ii., p. 478.).—In the Testamenta Eboracensia, p. 163., Johannes Esten de Scardeburgh, le Ankersymth, bequeaths 2d.—

A hand-bell (as I am informed by a Roman Catholic gentleman) often precedes the Host, when carried in procession to the sick, &c., in order to clear the way, and remind passengers of the usual reverence paid at such times.

Shillings and Sixpences of George III. (Vol. iii., p. 275.).—R. W. C. has fallen into a misconception in supposing that these coins present an erroneous spelling of the Latinized style of the monarch, whilst the contemporary crowns and half-crowns have the correct orthography. The spelling of the legend on the sixpences and shillings was intentional, and with a meaning, being inscribed in an abridged form—GEOR: III. D: G: BRITT: REX F: D:—the reduplication of the T was designed, after classical precedent, to represent the plural Britanniarum, i.e., Great Britain and Ireland.

Odour from the Rainbow (Vol. iii., p. 224.).—I hope that I have found Jarltzberg's note in the following lines:

Fro Venus Valanus might this palais see."
(or) volant ? Might Venus, volans (flying)	fro this palais, see.